UPDATED: Storm Hits Livingston Hard; Days Later, 2K Without Power

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Livingston was one of several Essex County towns hit hard by Wednesday’s storm and its “heavy, wet snow,” which left roads treacherous and caused downed wires and power outages throughout the area, officials said.

More than 2,000 Livingston residents are still without power as of Friday, police said.

According to a Livingston Police Department advisory issued Friday morning:

“The utility companies and our DPW have been working tirelessly to restore normalcy in town. They have cleared several roadways and are continuing to do so. Both crews are working together because many trees cannot be cleared until the wires are removed from them so they are working street by street together. Please do not touch any downed wires as they could still be live and please do not go around any barricaded roads. As of right now we still have 635 JCP&L customers without power and 1399 PSE&G customers without power. We have suspended the enforcement of sidewalk clearing at this time until Sunday. We appreciate your patience and cooperation.”

On Thursday morning, Livingston town officials issued the following advisory:

“As of 6 a.m. on Thursday, March 8, there are still numerous trees and wires down in roadways throughout town. Livingston's DPW and Police Department are working to remedy the situation as quickly and safely as possible. Travel is difficult, with some streets still closed and not yet plowed due to trees and/or wires down.”

LPD Captain Gary Marshuetz strongly encouraged residents to stay at home and not venture out.

“As always, in the case of a true emergency, dial 9-1-1,” Marshuetz advised.

A warming station is available at the Senior/Community Center, 204 Hillside Ave., Livingston officials stated Thursday.

Livingston police provided the following update on Thursday:

"Due to the large number of wires down we are unable to post officers at every location. The public is urged to treat all wires as if they are energized. Keep your distance. All residents are urged to stay home and avoid travel unless necessary."

Livingston wasn’t the only Essex County town hit hard by the storm. Flights were canceled in Newark, roads became impassable in Verona and Cedar Grove, car crashes were reported in Millburn, downed power lines were seen in Maplewood and trees were down in Montclair. Check out the below article for more examples of storm damage and issues in Essex County.

• See related article: Essex County Sees Crashes, Outages, Bad Roads

PSE&G: 80,000 LOSE POWER

If you lost power during the storm, you weren’t the only one. PSE&G said that about 80,000 of its 2.2 million customers were without power as a result of yesterday’s storm.

According to PSE&G:

Working overnight and this morning, the utility has restored about 190,000 customers since the storm began.

• Heavy, wet snow brought down large trees, branches and wires across PSE&G’s service territory. Electric service crews worked through the night and will continue to work in difficult conditions to restore outages as safely and as quickly as possible.
• The restoration process will likely take several days given the damage from falling trees that will need to be cleared. The utility is mobilizing additional employees to help with damage assessment so that it can better determine restoration times. We ask our customers to be patient as we deal with these difficult conditions and work to safely restore power.
• PSE&G’s 16 walk-in customer service centers are expected to open at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
• Downed wires should always be considered “live.” Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything that it might be in contact with.
• To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, do not run any gasoline powered engine, including generators and snow blowers, in a garage or any other enclosed space. Clear snow from dryer and hot water heater vents.
• PSE&G encourages customers to report downed wires and power outages by logging in to My Account on www.pseg.com, texting the word “OUT” to 4PSEG, or calling PSE&G’s Customer Service line at 1-800-436-PSEG.
• The utility offers customers a number of ways to stay in touch and informed before, during and after a storm. These tools can be found at PSE&G’s mobile-friendly website www.pseg.com in the “Storm Center.” Updated every 15 minutes, PSE&G’s mobile-friendly “Outage Map” displays the location and status of power outages.

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File Photo: Eric Kiefer